Chapter 209 - Leave No Stone Unturned!

Baili Qingcang sat on the high throne without saying a word. But his expression became even more raging, and none of the officials dared to look directly at him.

Zhao Huiying’s heart tightened. She looked at the crying consorts and frowned as she said coldly, “Be quiet! Beware of where you are and stop crying!”

The cries immediately stopped. The consorts held their handkerchiefs and sobbed softly.

Baili Qingcang closed his eyes tightly and then slowly opened them. “This is the Palace. It is the center of the Da’an Dynasty and also my home. I didn’t expect that the place where I live had become an area sheltering evil people and countenancing evil practices!”

“Your Majesty, calm down.” The officials hurriedly knelt down.

“This is the golden hall where I hold court and meet the civil and military officials every day. But who would have thought that its ground would be poisoned by someone and become a place for harming people? This is outrageous! This is so outrageous!”

Baili Qingcang abruptly swept his hands and pushed everything on the imperial writing desk down to the ground. He said, “Investigate it thoroughly! Leave no stone unturned! I would be a wretched emperor if I allow this matter to end up without a clear conclusion!”

Zhao Huiying’s heart trembled. She looked at Shen Ninghua, and her gaze was as sharp as a bone-scraping steel knife that fiercely swept across her face, almost hurting her cheeks.

This was exactly a brazen provocation to the emperor!

She had prepared her plot for such a long time. She thought it would surely succeed. However, who would have thought that Shen Ninghua could get away with it so easily? It seemed that Shen Ninghua had been well prepared for this. Otherwise, how could she get Chen Yun involved in everything she did?

Chen Yun was the most trusted subject of His Majesty. So when he spoke, His Majesty would believe most of what he said. Moreover, Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi proved their innocence. As a result, her efforts almost ended up in vain.

Shen Ninghua’s expression was as calm as a clear lake and she didn’t show the slightest hint of emotion.

Baili Qingcang’s anger swept across the entire hall like a gust of wind. The civil and military officials were silent like cicadas in cold weather and were very upset. Originally, they came here to seek an explanation. But they did not expect that they would become a target of the emperor’s anger. If they were implicated in this matter, then they would make a fool of themselves.

“I’ll leave this matter to you, imperial son-in-law. I have conferred an imperial sword to you. You can investigate anyone thoroughly, no matter who they are and what position they hold. You have my support!”

Chu Junyi stepped forward with a firm and powerful voice. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Everyone turned nervous. They quickly thought about whether they had offended this imperial son-in-law who was trusted so much by the emperor.

“Father Emperor, since you have left this matter to me, then I will investigate it step by step. However, I will deal with the most important part first. I will start with the Imperial Palace. So I will first ask Father Emperor for a decree.”

“Speak!” Baili Qingcang nodded.

“Please allow me to investigate the harem.”

Baili Qingcang’s brows furrowed suddenly. “You want to investigate the harem?”

Chu Junyi’s voice was calm. “Yes. Although the harem and the outer palace are completely separate, how could there be no connection between them? In addition, all incense turned harmful after being sent to the harem. If I don’t investigate the harem, how could the truth come to light?”

Baili Qingcang frowned and pondered. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and his expression changed constantly.

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and said, “Father Emperor, since you decided to investigate this issue, you should do it sooner rather than later. After all, the evidence might be destroyed at any time. Chu Junyi is a man and it is not suitable for him to enter the harem. I possess medical skills, so how about me doing the investigation in the harem in his stead?”

“En… yes, and you can take Chen Yun with you.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.”

Shen Ninghua stood up and walked to the harem with Chen Yun and the other imperial physicians of the Academy of Imperial Physicians.

Chu Junyi also led his men to investigate the golden palace. After marking out all places that got poisoned, he started to interrogate the guards guarding the golden palace. The tense atmosphere slowly spread from the outer palace to the harem, then from the imperial palace to the capital.

The consorts were sent back to their palaces. But they didn’t dare to touch anything after returning to their rooms because they were afraid that they would get poisoned.

The first place Shen Ninghua investigated was Consort Yin’s palace.

Consort Yin’s palace was a little remote. At this time, she just had a miscarriage. So, after returning to her palace, she covered her body with a quilt and sat on the bed. She sneered as she watched Shen Ninghua leading people to investigate her room.

“As a princess, you have to condescend to investigate the palace of a low-ranking consort like me? I don’t think you feel good, right?”

Shen Ninghua sniffed the fragrance in the incense burner. Without turning her head, she said slowly, “What are you nervous about?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have been staring at me ever since I entered your palace. It seems that you are afraid that I will find something. Aren’t you nervous?”

“Of course not. Couldn’t I look at you when you inspect my room? Many of the things here were granted by His Majesty and Her Majesty. If you damage them, you can’t afford to compensate me.”

“Consort Yin, don’t worry. My mansion is full of things bestowed by Father Emperor and Mother Empress.”

“You…”

Shen Ninghua looked at a vase beside the bed with a hint of interest in her eyes. “This vase is quite elegant.”

Consort Yin’s body stiffened. “It’s just a vase. There are many vases like this in the Internal Affairs Department. If you want it, go to Internal Affairs Department.”

Shen Ninghua picked up the vase and scratched it with her fingernails. Looking at the falling powder, she sneered and said, “Nice stuff.”

“What is nice about it? It is just a vase!”

Shen Ninghua raised the corner of her lips. “This is not an ordinary vase. Thanks to this vase, you have made your wish come true. You were quite favored by His Majesty recently. I think that couldn’t happen without this vase.”

Sweat oozed from Consort Yin’s forehead, and her nervous face twitched. “I don’t understand what Your Highness means.”

“Fake pregnancy grass…” Shen Ninghua raised her dark eyes. Those clear eyes seemed to see through the trick of Consort Yin. “Did you understand what I said?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Looking at the utterly discomfited Consort Yin, Shen Ninghua smiled faintly, “You know the best in your heart whether I talked nonsense, right?”

Consort Yin’s face was deathly pale. It looked like she was on the verge of collapse. Her eyes were filled with fear. “Your Highness, what are you going to do?” If this matter was exposed, then she would be doomed.

Instead of answering her question, Shen Ninghua turned around and continued to inspect the things in the room. After quite a while, she stopped and said, “I’ll take my leave.”

“Stop!” Consort Yin abruptly stood up from her bed and quickly walked to Shen Ninghua, her eyes carrying a sinister expression. “Your Highness, are you going to expose me?”

“As a consort in the harem, you know how to use poison. This finding is extremely useful. I certainly will tell Father Emperor about it.”

“Although I’m good at using poison, I’ve never harmed anyone. Your Highness, why do you have to treat me like this?”

Shen Ninghua sneered. “If you didn’t harm anyone, how come the other consorts in the golden palace got poisoned? Should they blame themselves for that?”

“Shen Ninghua, are you determined to expose me?”

Shen Ninghua smiled. Then she bypassed her and continued to walk towards the entrance of the palace.

Consort Yin bit her lip fiercely. She quietly took out a hairpin from her sleeve and brandished it towards Shen Ninghua’s back.

Shen Ninghua abruptly turned around and grabbed Consort Yin’s wrist. When she saw the darkened tip of the hairpin, she sneered, “Originally, I thought I had to find more evidence. With this, I can declare you guilty now! Someone, keep watch over Consort Yin, don’t let her wander around or hurt herself. His Majesty will summon her later.”

Consort Yin felt a pain in her wrist. She couldn’t help but loosen her grip. Then, she realized that the hairpin in her hand had been taken by Shen Ninghua. She wanted to say something, but Shen Ninghua had already walked out of the palace. Immediately after that, the palace’s door was tightly shut.

After handing over the hairpin to Chen Yun, Shen Ninghua said, “Doctor Chen, I think you have found a lot of evidence, right?”

Chen Yun nodded, and his gaze deepened as he looked at the hairpin. “Yes.”

The two of them returned to the golden palace. The civil and military officials were still kneeling on the ground. Some of them were already pale and could hardly maintain their position.

Baili Qingcang said, “Ninghua, what did you find during your investigation?”

Shen Ninghua saluted. “Father Emperor, I found something, but…”

“But what?”

“The result is a little too scary. I’m afraid that my judgment might be incorrect.”

Baili Qingcang’s gaze was serious as he turned to Chen Yun. “Chen Yun, you tell me.”

“Your Majesty, during the investigation, I found that the incense burners in most palaces of the harem had problems, except for the ones in the palaces of a few low-ranking consorts who are not favored by Your Majesty. The incense Her Highness sent into the imperial palace became poisonous after being burned in those incense burners.”

“What?” Baili Qingcang almost couldn’t believe his ears. If most incense burners in the harem had problems, didn’t that mean that there was no clean place in his harem? Who could have the ability to control the entire harem?

Shen Ninghua added, “Father Emperor, in addition to the problematic items in the palaces of the consorts, I also found something even more shocking.”

“More shocking?”

“Yes. Because Consort Yin has just miscarried, I examined her palace more carefully. Only then did I find that many of the things there were poisoned. One thing was especially special. It was the fake pregnancy grass!”

Baili Qingcang gritted his teeth and said, “Fake pregnancy grass?”

“Yes. When a woman takes this herbal medicine, she will have false pulses indicating that she is pregnant. Even her abdomen will swell as if she is pregnant. That symptom will not disappear until eight months later. Therefore, Consort Yin probably didn’t have a miscarriage.”

Baili Qingcang’s vision turned black. He felt his chest choked and almost vomited blood. The Empress beside him was so shocked that she hurriedly stepped forward to help him breathe smoothly.

Baili Qingcang pushed the Empress away and suppressed the boiling anger in his chest after quite a while. “Fake pregnancy grass, great! Empress, you are in charge of my harem. Is this the result of your work? The harem was filled with poison, and there was even fake pregnancy. What is this?”

Zhao Huiying knelt on the ground, and her expression was still noble and cold. “I failed to govern the harem properly. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

Baili Qingcang breathed heavily. His vision constantly turned black. He held the imperial writing desk with both hands to keep himself from falling. He had been overjoyed to learn that he was going to be a father again at an old age, but he didn’t expect that it was an obscene trick made by Consort Yin!

“Someone, bring Consort Yin here!”